Police: Unruly Tennessee man attacks officer when he couldn’t get popcorn at the movies

A Clarksville, Tennessee, man allegedly wanted popcorn so badly at a movie theater on Monday that he assaulted both a theater employee and a police officer that responded to the disturbance.

KOMO News reports that Paul West, 50, was at a movie theater off of Tiny Town Road in Clarksville on Monday at around 11:30 p.m., when he reportedly became furious that the concession stand had already closed and employees refused to reopen to serve him popcorn. According to police, West grabbed an empty popcorn bucket from the trash can and demanded that employees fill it up with fresh popcorn when they refused to give him a new bucket of popcorn.

When an employee explained to him that the concession had already closed down for the night, West apparently wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He reportedly threw the empty bucket an an employee, knocking over a display. He returned to his movie while the employee called the police.

When authorities arrived and tried to detain West, he became defensive and attempted to attack a female officer, Jennifer Renken. He then picked up a trash can and threw it at her. She was able to get West to the ground and detain him, but she said in the process, he tried to bite and punch her several times.

West was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and booked on charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. He was given a $22,500 bond. It’s unclear what movie West was watching at the theater.